Last week Roger talked about cropping and lines. There are classic rules of composition that all photographers should think of when framing their images. Here is one of my favorite images. In the past we have talked about the “Rule of Thirds” and it is the most basic of all framing devices. Just imagine a tic-tac-toe grid on your image and try to place your subject at one of the 4 crossing points. You really do want to keep them out of the exact center of your image, because people instinctively find that boring.
But that is not the only way to think of composition and in Lightroom and in Photoshop; there are easy tools available to assist you in cropping your images for more visual appeal.

When you are in the Develop module, and you start using the crop tool, it defaults to the “Rule of Thirds” grid. However, you can find a menu on the main menu bar under Tools called “Crop Guide Overlay” and see what other choices are available. The classic “Golden Spiral” is great for group portraits. Contain the bulk of your visual interest in the tightest part of the spiral. The strong leading lines on the “Triangle” overlay frame angular images. You can use the keyboard shortcut “O” to cycle through the choices and help as you crop. As with all things in LR, it is all non-destructive, so you can experiment as much as you like.